Posted on 08/04/2014 5:06:45 AM PDT by cotton1706
The Senate minority leader, long reviled among many on the right for what they see as kowtowing to Democrats, is in a tough race for his seat—and in trouble with the Tea Party.
If Alison Lundergan Grimes pulls off an upset victory over Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in November, she may have Tea Partiers to thank. But don’t expect conservative voters to rally to Grimes—they simply aren't getting behind McConnell.
Although the five-term Republican ended up winning a a tough primary challenge from businessman Matt Bevin handily, the race was one of the most vicious and ugly this cycle, with Bevin’s campaign badly damaged in a cockfighting scandal. And while some disaffected conservatives have backed McConnell in November, Bevin has still not endorsed him, and many of the Tea Party groups that supported the businessman are following suit. As a result, in a recent poll, nearly 20% of self-identified Republicans didn't support McConnell.
Scott Hofstra, spokesman for the United Kentucky Tea Party, said he isn’t backing McConnell and “taking the lesser of the two evils approach.” Many conservatives, Hofstra predicted, either will leave the box on the ballot for U.S. Senate empty or will vote for David Patterson, the libertarian candidate. The senator has alienated many Tea Partiers and has yet to reach out to bridge the gap, Hofstra said. The divide was opened further, he added, by McConnell’s open support for Thad Cochran in the Mississippi Senate runoff and McConnell’s association with pro-Cochran ads that many conservatives assailed as race-baiting. “If there were some people on the fence after what happened in Kentucky, the Mississippi incident really put them over the edge,” Hofstra said. Still, he noted that Tea Party dissatisfaction with McConnell wasn’t winning Grimes their votes. “I haven’t talked to anybody who would vote her.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
I don’t agree, they would be forced to give Cruz something, he’s too smart for them not to do so.
Even though I don’t respect McConnell, I would vote for him. We need to GAIN Senate seats, not lose them because of a hissy-fit. We need the MAJORITY in the Senate. NOW!
The party’s base bought that BS for several election cycles. Nobody seems interested in buying it again.
You screwed up too many times. Your boys are like crack addicts that have been stealing from the family and keep asking for “one more chance.”
If you continue to hammer away at your foundation don’t be surprised when your house collapses.
Forced? By whom?
If you like having Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader, than by all means, make your point about Mitch McConnell being a wimpy RINO (no argument there) and either stay at home or vote for a third party candidate who has. no chance of winning.
It’s the backstabbing doofus.
Congratulations, you’ve proven it doesn’t matter which party is in office; either way conservatives will get screwed!
The best we can hope for is to elect candidates who won’t betray us!
Agreed: I've said that for about 25 years. But getting the entrenched establishment to vote for their own demise is a formidable task.
Obama agrees and thanks you. Electing a demo for the next 6 years is freaking brilliant.
At least as effective as “Maverick” McCain and his “Gang of Eight.” Go ahead and be a mindless, blind follower. Keep running for that football, Charlie Brown.
We don’t trust your party leadership. We’ve been screwed over by the GOPe too many times. If you want Conservative support, quit backstabbing your own party base. It’s that simple.
And if Harry Reid switched party affiliation, we’d have posters advocating we vote for him to keep the seat.
The lizards are in power and everyone hates the lizards.
But you have to vote for “our” lizard. Otherwise the wrong lizards will be in charge.
Is there a Zimbabwean nickel’s worth of difference between Reid and McCommie?
The Tea Party is not going to sink Mitch. Mitch is going to sink Mitch.
Those polls showing that even a brain-dead Ashley Judd would have given him a run for his money were for real.
Funny or scary?
If they win the Senate (possible) and replace The Chinless One (unlikely) I expect it to be with another of the same ilk.
A Republican Senate is not going to mount any more resistance to Obama’s lawlessness than the one we have now, which is of course none.
We should be excited at the prospect of a Republican sweep and yet deep down we know it will change nothing. Excited at the prospect of electing more backstabbers who hate conservatism and the Constitution?
You keep thinking Hairy Reid would be better, I will look at all the pluses of Republican control. It will be decided by those that show up, not protesters that sit home.
I don’t agree, they would be forced to give Cruz something, he’s too smart for them not to do so.
How would they be “forced” to give Cruz anything? They committed election fraud against their own Conservative base. We’ve figured out they don’t represent us.
What would be mindless is to sacrifice the entire senate because you don’t like Mitch. That’s sort of like being willing to sacrifice the nation because you don’t like him. Yes, absolutely 100% mindless.
Forced? By whom?
When dealing with the FReeper GOPe cult, do you ever feel like you’re trying discuss particle physics with Nancy Pelosi?
Another Reid voter heard from.
A Republican Senate is not going to mount any more resistance to Obama’s lawlessness than the one we have now, which is of course none.
It would certainly slow obama packing the courts.
What would be mindless is to sacrifice the entire senate because you don’t like Mitch. That’s sort of like being willing to sacrifice the nation because you don’t like him. Yes, absolutely 100% mindless.
We’ve been promised the same thing every election cycle...over and over and over. That’s the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results.
A family kept a dog chained up in the back yard without adequate food or water. The children would hit and kick the dog. They laughed and threw rocks at it. One day the dog slipped out under the fence. The family called the dog but it wouldn’t let them near and it finally ran away.
Boycott that dog isn’t coming back. Is it the dog’s fault?
Possible, but I wouldn't even give that better than 50/50 odds.
McCain, Graham and their cronies will be cutting deals with Reid and company days after the election. Sell out deals to be enacted before the new Senate is seated.
The thing that’s really becoming funny in this race is how Grimes and her campaign are cynically playing to every bad redneck stereotype in order to swing disaffected Conservatives over to her. Which is the same as that used to “win” Cochrane the runoff in Mississippi.
Grimes is completely over the top in support of coal. There’s that picture of her, that her campaign is actively distubuting, of her at a gun range wearing a tight tank top and jeans while aiming a scoped rifle. Now one of her surrogates is getting press for going after McConnell for having an Asian wife.
McConnell deserves a lot of cr-p for his behavior, but Grimes is really crossing some thresholds in acting contemptuous if her own voters.
Another Reid voter heard from.
The “guilt games” don’t work.
Why do you support backstabbing quislings? You guys had to know you could only screw your conservative base so many times.
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